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Finding a newspaper or magazine article

This web file goes with the Library workshop session that you have had in the library while working with one of the librarians. Your instructor has asked you to locate a newspaper or magazine article in the library and read it. This assignment is partly designed to show you that reading is something that can be fun in itself, and not just something you do for school. You will also be writing something about your article, however. This web file is designed to lend some support while you move through the steps required to deliver the finished assignment in time to meet your deadline.

First, let's review what you need to do by breaking it down into simple steps.

• Step 1 -- Think about what you want to read
• Step 2 -- Find a newspaper or magazine in the library
• Step 3 -- Use the table of contents in the newspaper or magazine to find an article you like.
• Step 4 -- read the article
• Step 5 -- write about why you chose the article, and list three facts from it.

Our business here today is everything between those five steps. Let's get started!

Think about what you want to read

Newspapers and many magazines are non-fiction works; that is, they are about real events, and not stories that people just make up. When you are thinking about what you want to read, consider what you are interested in, and what sort of things are important to you.

Do you like the Red Sox? You could read about their last game in a sports article.

Are you interested in the Massachusetts governor's race? You could read about that in a local news article.

Would you like to lose weight? You could read about that in a health or science article.

Find a newspaper or magazine in the library

Newspapers and magazines in the BHCC Library are located on the shelves on the other side of the library from the computers. Simply by looking at the shelves you will find a selection of titles published recently. If there is a title you know you want, you can look in the library catalog to see if we have it. The library catalog can be found by going to the library website at http://www.noblenet.org/bhcc and clicking on the word catalog. For a reminder in how to use the online catalog, go to http://www.noblenet.org/bhcc/catalog.htm for an online tutorial on using the catalog.

Use the table of contents in the newspaper or magazine to find an article you like.

Magazines and newspapers generally have a table of contents. A table of contets is a list of the articles printed in the latest issue. The table of contents may be on the front page of a newspaper, or it might be on one of the first pages of a newspaper or magazine. If you look at the table of contents and find something you like, the table of contents should list the page the article is on. Turn to that page and you are ready to go! Also, a table of contents may group articles with the same subject together. That can tell you if the article is about a subject that you are interested in.

Read the article

Now it's time to read the article. The first part of the article is the headline. This is what tells you, the reader, what the article is about. Reading the headline will tell you if this is the article you saw listed in the table of contents, because there are usually more than one articles on the same page.

Next you will probably see the name of the person who wrote the article. This may or may not interest you. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that if you are really interested in what the article says you can probably call or write to the person and tell him or her about it!

The beginning of the article is sometimes called "the hook". This gets you interested in the article, and helps you to understand the reason the article was written in the first place. It may say that there is a recent event that has changed our world that we need to know about.

For example:"Last night war broke out."

Or the article may tell you about a person; a 'human interest' story. In this case the writer wants to put you in someone else's shoes.

For example:"Bob so-and-so is a fireman, and he is about to lose his job."

Finally you will have the body of the article. This is where you find out the facts and opinions. Facts are What Happened. What was the final score of the game? Where did the earthquake take place? Who was arrested?

Opinions are What people think about what happened. Why did the coach remove the player? Why didn't anyone prepare for the earthquake? Will the person be convicted?

Write about why you chose the article, and list three facts from it.

This is the part of the assignment you turn in, and this is where you use your writing skills. It may be a challenge for you to write these points clearly, but you will have the most success if you take some notes at each step of the way. If you write down your thoughts when you are thinking about what you want to read, they will be fresh in your mind, and it will make it easier to write later. When you are reading the article, think about the difference between what everyone would say is true, and what only some people think is true. This will help you choose facts, and not opinions.

Online Resources

At some point you will want to find newspaper and magazine articles on the internet or in the library's electronic resources.

In order to find the journal articles you need, you will need to use one of the databases that we have on our Electronic Services page. Just like with the catalog, you need to go to the BHCC library homepage, http://www.noblenet.org/bhcc/ Then click on the Electronic Services link. Once on that page, you pick the database to search depending on the type of article you are searching for.

Recommended database: eLibrary

Just like the library's catalog, you search for articles by using words that represent your topic. Do you want to find information on cars? Then type in the word cars and see how many articles you get back. If you're thinking of a specific car, use the name of that car to get more precise results.

eLibrary will also let you sort your results by how long the article is or by reading level.

Recommended database: Massachusetts Newspapers

This electronic resource allows you search for articles from several Massachusetts newspapers and major newsmagazines. It also provides collections of articles on individual topics. When you search, you can search by a keyword the same as in eLibrary. At the same time you can search for articles from a specific date.